Marie Renaud won the NDP nomination in the constituency of St. Albert over her caucus colleague Trevor Horne Wednesday night.

Renaud, the current MLA for St. Albert, acknowledged it wasn't ideal to face off against Horne, the MLA for Spruce Grove-St. Albert. Horne's riding was eliminated after the legislature accepted the recommendations of the last boundaries commission.

"Democracy is sometimes a little bit messy, " Renaud said afterwards. "We're the NDP so we respect each other and run a race that's fair."

Both Renaud and Horne were first elected in 2015, when the NDP won its first majority government under Premier Rachel Notley.

Horne said it was a tough decision to face Renaud but he said he wanted to run in the constituency where he lives.

Horne hasn't ruled out running for the nomination in Morinville-St. Albert on Jan. 10 where Shawna Gawreluck​ is currently the only registered candidate. Gawreluck was the NDP candidate in the October 2017 federal by-election in Sturgeon River-Parkland which was won by Conservative Dane Lloyd.